Out or safe? Video Play
 

http://www.bullochheadlinenews.com/i...y baseball.wmv

I want to discuss the play at the 1:45 mark. But first, a little background.

This was my first Varsity game, and a rivalry--these two teams are always the top two in their region from what I've heard. I thought I did a pretty good job behind the plate. If you veterans see anything on the clip (granted they don't highlight the umpires) that you pick up that I do that is incorrect, let me know.

My base umpire had strained his calf earlier in the game so I was taking everything at third except for steals. So on the play in question, I was cheating towards third. Once I realized we were about to have a play at the plate, I busted my chops and got as close as I could.

Well, close wasn't good enough. As you can tell when the play happens, I'm not even in the screen until I make my call (I came to a complete stop when I realized the tag was eminent). Having to cover third had me in what I feel was a terrible position.

My question for you guys is, if I hadn't had to cover third as much, where do you feel proper positioning would have been on the play? I think right behind home plate would have left me a pretty good angle to tell if there was indeed a tag, and if the tag was before the runner scored.

The camera angle is not great, I know. But after further review, I believe the runner was probably out.

Discuss amongst yourselves, and thanks.

I can't get your link to work. Are you sure it's correct? Any other suggestions on how to access this page?

You did what you had to do. It looks like you got close enough and you saw the play and made the call. The video is not in the right place to second guess you. Besides, the White team pretty much sucks on defense so it's not your fault! I think that it was a great job of covering for your partner.

Regards

It really should work fine. Works fine for me. If not, go to this site:

www.bullochheadlinenews.com And on the right side it should have a sports section. Click on Portal falls to Calvary 10-3 or on the "See video" link under the story.

Other than being out of position because your partner was hurt, I also noticed you signal out with your left hand. Also, your head looked like it was on a needle--way to much movement. Just some constructive criticism for you. Was your partner hurt during that game. Maybe he should have given that game back if he new he was hurt. Did you have a ball bag on? I couldn't see one.

He was hurt in the third inning. Yes, had a ball bag.

Linkee no workee. I think my office has a filter for any news from South Georgia :D

You have the ball bag on to far forward. Move it back one belt loop. It should be on your side not the front.

Yea... on that swinging 3rd strike, what was that strike 3 and/or out call you did with your left hand? NEVER call a strike or an out with your left hand.

Unless you don't have a right hand.

then you wouldn't be signaling anything with your left hand because you don't have one...is shooting a person that's already dead qualify as killing a person...nope...therefore, how could you signal with a hand that you didn't have. sorry...typically i'm not the splitting hairs type on this board...sorry Rich...I'm done. I know what point you're making...just felt like being difficult for one post today...

Your partner was in C to start that play. I'd have only taken third when he was in A or B. What's the point in him moving to C if he wasn't going to take the call?

on a throw from left field you could potentially be on 3rd base line extended...the book will tell you to start from the apex of the plate and work FBE or TBE (1st base extended/3rd base extended) depending upon where the throw is coming from. that being said, you made it sound a lot worse in your post than it really was...also..it didn't appear that you were wearing a belt and if you were, was it black? your position in the slot looked pretty good...your head height looked pretty good too...don't beat yourself up to bad...you did what you had to do to help your partner...just try to get better each game which is what we're all trying to do...read the rules, learn the rules, ask questions, be open to suggestions, and be willing to learn which it appears you're doing by coming on here in the first place. keep working hard.

Yea, the belt I had on was brown. I had forgotten my black belt that day. Oops. Also realize I had the bag on too far forward.

I see the deal with the left hand. Our assigner has told us a good signal to use on a dropped third strike is to point at the batter instead of just an "out" signal. And since the batter was to my left, I used my left hand. However, on this play and on a lot of caught third strikes where I would have called the pitch a ball, I've been pointing even though the ball was caught. It's definitely something I need to correct, a bad mechanic that comes with inexperience. Hopefully I can correct it before it becomes a habit.

I'm not beating myself up, I just wanted to see where you guys thought the ideal position would be for this particular play.

Thanks for the input.

Todd

Todd, along with the head movement, the left hand signal, it looks like you might be working a little too far back, and too high! In addition, it appears that you body is not squared up to the pitcher. You looked like you were slightly shifted to look into the zone.

I would suggest working a little closer to the catcher, spreading your feet out much farther, and getting squared up to the pitcher!

Tell your partner that he is not a bird, and that safe calls should be done at shoulder height, not above his head! ;)

My thought exactly. For a moment I thought he was calling 'time' :p

Your partner pulled a calf muscle and couldn't cover third from C?

I didn't find you that you were too far from the play at the plate, and all the other eagle eye's caught the other upgrades.

Don't anticipate needing to cover third unless the ball and runner are there at the same time. What is the definition of a play????

Considering the swipe tag on the play at the plate, I thought you had GREAT position, whether accidentally or not. You ended up with the look right between F2 and the runner.

Your head height and position seem fine to me, but what do I know?

Also, you have good timing and the confidence to ring em up. Good stuff.

I'll let everyone else be picky about the rest.

BTW, you aren't too far away, just like SAump below me (thanks to the editing feature) pointed out. You have perfect distance as far as I'm concerned. If you hadn't told me you thought you were out of position I would've congratulated you for reading the play so well.

Don't let it blow UP
 

Note: Deleted parts from original post above.

Close is not where you want to be. I say this from a POV that you never really want to be too close. The action tends to "blow up" when you're up close to it. I saw that you were on the lip of the circle and made the call in the dirt area. Looks like you were closer to the action than you seem to believe and you don't appear to have moved much closer to sell the SAFE call. I really would have never known that you "hustled back to position" and failed to be there on time. I see nothing wrong with that position.

I beg to differ with you goal of being too close and in a terrible position. I also beg to differ on the call. I looked at the video as many times as I could and couldn't tell if the catcher swiped the top foot. That was from my angle. You had a much better angle than the camera lense. It wouldn't have been any better on 3BLX. {Remember you said you couldn't get there.} You made the safe call so I assume you didn't see a swipe tag on the top foot. Those are the FACTS presented in the play in question.

Now I saw a diving catcher come UP angry as if he applied the tag. I also saw a runner slap hands in a self-congratulatory gesture for getting there first. Well, if the tag was applied, I am sure you would have seen it and come UP with the OUT call. Because you didn't, it appears that the catcher tried to tag the runner by the time the runner was over the plate. It was that close. Then the catcher appeared to be disgusted with your call. What could he know diving back at a sliding runner? This may have created some doubt in your mind.

GET RID of the DOUBT.

Definition of bang-bang play! You sold your call and looked confident. Good job.

I personally would be at 3BLX because of the swipe tag. Did you call safe because the runner beat the tag or because the catcher missed the tag?

Looked like a good call to me.

just a couple of comments.

1). Did the first runner touch home? Poor camera angle, but it looked like you were tracking the ball as the runner crossed in.

2). Where were the runners at TOP? I'm presuming 3rd and 2nd, or else that's one hell of a fast runner scoring on a single from 1st. It looked like your partner would have been able to fade over to third for a play there if need be. As others have suggested there is no reason he shouldn't be able to cover 3rd from C, sore calf or otherwise. I'm presuming the 2nd runner coming home was on 2nd. If this is the case stay home. On a single that's where the plays going to be.

3). To me this is 3BX situation. It would have opened the play up more, and you would have an unobstructed view of the tag.

4). I thought it was a good sell job on the 'safe' call. Maybe add a point afterwards with a quick explanation such as 'he missed him'...just a side thought.

As SAump said: "GET RID of the DOUBT."

Just my two cents worth.

Looked good to me!
 

You asked about the play at the plate and it looked good to me. Good positioning with a perfect angle to see the tag attempt.

Some have suggested 3BLX, but from there on this play you will actually be blocked from the tag attempt by the runners body since the tag is actually behind the runner.

If the runner would have made a good slide (away from F2) it would have really not even been close, but kids today aren't taught the basics anymore.

Keep up the good work!

Just wondering... what happened to one team wearing the home uniform and the other a contrasting color? Kind of looks wierd on video. Also, the shortstop on one team was terrible.


thanks
David

No need to add to what others have already said other than:

I know you want to "cheat" at third to aid your partner but if there is a pretty good chance that there could be a close play at the plate, then your partner is going to have to take those calls the best he can. He was in "C" so it should not have been that difficult.

In your play you ended up in good position because of where the throw was (F2 having to make a swipe tag), however, if the throw had been towards the right side (first base side) of the plate and the player slid into home you would have been out of position and not had a very good angle of the play because you were cheating towards third.

Your prime responsibility even if your partner is "hurting" is home plate, therefore, in the future if there is any play that could be imminent concerning home plate simply tell your partner he is on his own. Your partner if "ailing" is the one who should be "cheating" not you.


Also, if you new about the injury at pre-game perhaps your partner should have the dish since he couldn't move to cover the base responsibilities.

My second point is:

Who taped this game?
IMO, this is an excellent way to evaluate umpires if your association is the one who taped it or
Is this game on some local cable channel and you get a copy

Pete Booth

Thanks for all the input guys.

I actually think my head position is pretty good here, especially for a newbie. :D I've never really had someone help me with that... just done what I've read in the umpires manual and done what I've seen on TV. I'd really like to go to a good umpires camp. I'm only 23... I'll be doing this for a while, like to see how far I can go with it.

For those that asked, the tape is from the local cable station here. I agree, it'd be great if we could tape games. I'm getting my fiance to come to my next game behind the plate with our video camera so I can study the video tape to see what I need to work on. For instance, I haven't heard much griping about it, but I'd like to know what I'm calling stikes down at the bottom of the zone. I think it'd help me out a lot. Kind of my own Queztec system. ;)

I personally think 3BLX would have been the best. I think I would have had a good angle at a tag. I called the runner safe because I couldn't tell for sure if there was a tag, and even if there was there was doubt in my mind that it was in time.

Bang bang play, I did the best I could with the situation. I'm definately not beating myself up over it. Overall, I was pleased with my effort that day.

STEP 1
Stop right there. When you're in this position, you only go to step 2 after you've difinitively seen a tag.
Don't muddy your mind with insignificant details, they can only get you in trouble


Step 2

1. First, your mechanics on the play in question looked good...good strong safe call. You did what you had to do with an injured partner. Normally, start at the point of the plate and adjust left or right (Third base line or first base line extended) to take the play.

Even without an injured umpire, sometimes in a two man, the plate umpire will head toward third, only to realize the play is going to be at home. Additionally, this sometimes happens with a pretty fast runner, and there is no way the umpire is going to be able to get back home to the ideal position, but rather they'll have to call it from about where you were, or somewhere else.

2. The only other thing I would comment on is this...you have some head movement when you are tracking pitches. Its not horrendous, but you consistently do it (at least in that video). You want to strive to have NO head movement...and, thus, only track the ball with your eyes. Your only movement should be with your eyes, not your head.

And yes, loose the brown belt, move the ball bag back and buy a ticket for the ride because your partner looked like he was about to take off!